Lessons in Feminism, Courtesy of a Bunch of Guys on Tinder

Jennifer Bui/Thrillist
Jennifer Bui/Thrillist

In order to find out what the modern man thinks about feminism, we needed access to the modern man, and fast. Where does one find guys these days? Oh right, Tinder.

Prompted to give their thoughts on dating a feminist (or on feminism in general) the men of Tinder did not disappoint. But don't take our word for it: take it straight from their fingertips.

Nicole Caldwell/Thrillist

Feminism is about equal rights

And equal rights should apply to all people -- dyslexics, stoners, and arts & crafts enthusiasts included. In this case you'd be well within your right to swipe left, unless you're really intrigued by what sorts of handcrafted gifts might be awaiting you.

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(Some) men don’t want to date feminists because they’re too strong

"Too strong" can apply to an independent spirit or possessing enough upper-body strength to open doors for one's self. So, ladies, if you want to catch yourself a prize like Steve here, maybe stand around near doorways bemoaning your weak arms.

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Feminism can be cool, as long as you don't, you know, talk about it

Did you know that Tumblr is actually just a cell for joyless, pseudo-intellectual feminists to promote their cause? Well it's true! Or it might be true, depending on how much you feel like trusting a guy who doesn't realize that second-wave feminism simply refers to the period of the movement beginning in the 1960s and lasting through the 1980s, and also can't spell "Tumblr."

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It's to be expected that even open-minded guys will have other priorities

Who knows, maybe this could be the start of something beautiful where you two read Betty Friedan together while watching Mario Chalmers' shot against Memphis on repeat? It could happen!

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Not all guys are open-minded. In fact, some are close-fisted.

Pro tip: adjust your location settings on Tinder properly. Yikes.

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Men can be feminists!

Short, sweet, and to the point. In this case, the point appears to be "eh."

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Feminists and non-feminists: maybe not so different after all?

Our most in-depth response came from Brodie, who at least values a woman's opinion. He even thinks he might have something to learn! That, or he just has a really solid BS game.

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For some guys, feminism is just straight-up confusing

Here's one pointer for Chris: Wikipedia exists.

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Male feminists value both independent women and their own independence

Max also values brevity, and just repeating the same questions asked of him, which is a fine way to keep the conversation going, but doesn't score much for originality points.

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Some guys are arrogant enough to think they invented feminism

Unless he was talking about "extreme"... which would actually be weirder? "Owell" is the actual made-up word in this grammatical minefield, though clearly not the one he was discussing.

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Being anti-feminist can be truly hilarious

The "lol" does little here. Very. Very. Little. His prospects of a swipe right are similarly not good at all.

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Enough about women, can we talk about people whose last names start with "Z"?

Remember that lesson in elementary school, where they separated the kids by eye color to show the ridiculousness of bigotry based on skin color? This guy's doing that, but with letters in the alphabet, and feminism. Get it?!

Concluding thoughts: finding a worthwhile opinion on feminism on Tinder is a lot like finding a worthwhile guy on Tinder. It's not impossible, but you're going to have to wade through an awful lot of crap to get there.

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Nicole Caldwell is Thrillist's Sex & Dating editor, and is now less knowledgeable about feminism.